Not Gone
by MGNGMR
Summary: Ellie and Joel have settled down to a peaceful life, living in Jackson. Everything was was wonderful, until one night. What happens if Ellie loses the only one person she cares about?


**Near Jackson, Wyoming. spring.**

"Ellie? Wake up, hun. It's almost time to go." Joel whispered. He kneeled over Ellie's sleeping bag, lightly shaking her until she stirred. Joel hated waking her up from her peaceful sleep. "huh?'' "C'mon, get up. we need to get to tommy's." Said Joel, more seriously. Ellie slowly sat up in her sleeping bag and yawned before groggily wiping sleep from her eyes. "Y'know, you could have waited until after sunrise to get tommy's." Ellie protested, while pulling her auburn hair into a ponytail. "Getting up early is good for you. It makes the day longer. Anyways, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can be in safety." Joel lectured. _Great, a longer day in this world is just what I wanted._

Ellie rolled up her sleeping bag and stuffed it into her backpack. She picked up her pistol, took out the bullets and slowly counted them in her head. _Five. That's not gonna last long if we run into a pack of_ _clickers_. She then put them back into the ammo clip, and reloaded the gun before shoving it into her back pocket.

"A little help here?" Joel hollered, while attempting to pack up the tent. "Alright, I'm coming." She rushed over, just in time to see the tent fall flat on top of him. "You do know that there are instructions on how to pack it up, right?" She quietly giggled to herself, knowing that Joel is a little Self-conscious about these kinda things. "Well, Ellie, that information might of been pretty darn useful if you told me before I tried packing up the tent?" Joel informed her. He lifted up the doorway and poked his head out to see Ellie's face full of laughter. He then gave her a hefty smile before having a little chuckle to himself.

He was glad he saved her from the fireflies. From that moment on he decided that he will what ever it takes to never lose her again. Ever. Not to the Fireflies, not to clickers, not to the hunters, or even the Military. If anyone lays a hand on her, he will kill them. No second chances.

"You ready to go Ellie?" Joel called out after packing up the tent. He got no reply. "Ellie?" _Shit, where did that girl go?_ "Ellie?" He said it again, only this time more cautious. "Ellie?" Still no reply. "Ellie?" He was almost screaming her name. He paced around the campsite, looking behind some bushes and trees. "Ellie!" _What if she ran into some runners? Worst yet, hunters? _

"Jeez, can't a girl go to the toilet without some old man screaming her name?" Ellie ran out from behind a bush and stared at Joel with a puzzled look on her face. "You sounded like you were having a heart attack or something." _Of course. That girl._ "Oh my god! Ellie! You alright?" He looked at her, just realising how stupid he'd been. "No! Jesus Joel! You scared the shit out of me! With all your screaming and yelling. I thought you were dying!" Joel pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh of relieve. "Just tell me where you're going before you leave, ok?" _Well someone's paranoid._ She looked to ground and kicked some dirt. "Ellie?" Joel said, still looking for an answer. She inhaled a long, deep breath, still looking at the ground, and did a little nod of agreement. "Alright, come on. Put on your backpack. It's time to go."

"Hey, Ellie! Look! There it is!" Joel marvelled, excited to see his brother again. Ellie climbed up on to the rock Joel was on, and looked down to the town of Jackson. It was a large place, surrounded by a tall, steel wall. She could see houses, with children running around on green lawns. Guards were patrolling the wall, armed with rifles and shot guns. There was a big barn and she saw horses galloping around a big paddock behind it. It was a beautiful world, untouched by the horror that she had been living in for the last fourteen years.

"W-wow. It's amazing." Ellie didn't know what to say. All her life she wanted have a normal life. Now, she can finally have one. "It's wonderful, isn't it?" Joel approved. He stood opposite her, watching her face as she looked down at the town. He stared, waiting for her to finish. He didn't want to spoil the moment, but she didn't move her lime green eyes off it. "What are you waiting for? C'mon! Lets get down there!" Proposed Joel, with a smile on his face.

Joel approached the gate with caution. "Hello?" He called out. He stood right in front of the gate, moving his neck slightly, looking to see if anyone was there. "Don't move." Someone said with a raspy voice. He looked up and saw a man standing up on the wall, pointing a gun at him. He was wearing a black face mask, and had light, blonde hair poking out the side. "Ah, I'm looking for Tommy." Said Joel cautiously, wondering if he was going to shoot him. The man, still pointing the gun at Joel, picked up his Walkie-talkie and said a few words. After about a minute, he pointed his gun at the ground. "Alright, come on in." He said, while gesturing him to come forward with his gun.

"Ellie, you're right to come out now." Joel called out to her. Ellie walked slowly from behind a tree, and met Up with Joel. Joel could see how annoyed she was just by looking at her face. He knew she didn't like hiding, but Joel decided it was for the best. The gate opened, just a crack, and they both went through.

"Joel! Big Brother!" Tommy was standing on the other side, greeting Joel with his arms wide open. Joel walked up to him and they hugged for a Moment. "I didn't expect you so soon, brother!" Tommy admitted. Tommy looked down at Ellie, wondering why she had come back too. Maria was standing next to tommy, and greeted Joel with a hug as well.

"You must be hungry after your trip. Come on inside and tell us all about it while we eat?" Maria announced. "That sounds like a good idea. Ellie, why don't you go have a look around? Maybe make some friends?" Joel agreed with Maria, but he purposely put Ellie on the spot. _No fucking way, Joel._ "Uh, I'll think about it." Ellie said. she was pretty confident with adults, but she had trouble with making friends her age.

**A/n: this my first story I have wrote, it will be better in the next few chapters. Please write a review if you think it was good, bad or in between. If you have anything you want to happen in the story, please tell me. Thanks- MGNGMR p.s there is no front cover for the story because I wrote this on my iPad and it doesn't let me use a front cover. **


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